


The Dog Knows Best

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [84]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anxiety, Fainting, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Red as a dog, Red is the best girl, Service Dogs, hunk is the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 18:31:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15055187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: When something happens to Keith, get Shiro. If Shiro is unavailable then get Red. Red will know what to do.





	The Dog Knows Best

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "For the Single Parent Shiro AU. Can we get more of Keith and Red moments? I adore Red!! Hello! Sorry in advance I had no idea where to ask this so hopefully this is okay! I’ve been in love with your single!dad Shiro AU for a while now and I was wondering if you weren’t too swamped with prompts already if I could give you one?Okay so I’m a sucker for h/c, so I was wondering if you could write something where Keith (whatever age you find suitable) faints, he could overwork himself, he could be sick, he could have a panic attack, whatever, just anything that ends in him fainting and Shiro absolutely freaking out, with a bunch of fluff and cuddles at the end!Sorry if it’s too much to ask or if you’re busy! Thanks. <3"

Red was the best girl.

Red was well aware that she was the best girl too. She knew very well that Keith and everyone else thought of her as the best girl. Ever since the day that Shiro and Keith had brought Red home when Keith was six, she had wormed her way up to the top. She’d been by Keith’s side through many heartbreaks and troubles over the years. She’d also been there for all of the good times and love that filled Keith’s life.

Even now, when Keith was sixteen, Red was still doing what she did best at his side. First and foremost, she was Keith’s service dog. While Keith had gotten better control over his anxiety and attacks over the years, he still needed Red’s help even throughout high school. There was a time when Keith was a freshman and a sophomore where Keith didn’t bring Red to school, out of embarrassment, and those had been the worst years of bullying in Keith’s life.

When Keith finally started bringing Red back into school during his junior year, kids had tried to start their usual bullying with Keith. First by taunting Keith over the fact that he even needed a service dog before then following their traditional,  _idiotic_  taunts.

However, Red shut that down within the first  _two weeks_  of school.

She snapped at anyone that tried to harm Keith and frightened more kids than the school admitted. During a brief stint, the parents of bullies tried to force Red to leave, claiming that she was a danger to students. Yet, overprotective  _Mama-bear_  Shiro had pointed out that Red  _never_  had any bad altercations in the past, was up to date in her training, was the  _top_  of her class _and_  he pointed out that Red didn’t ever get involved unless Keith was being threatened.

Which pointed out that the _only reason Red would growl would be if kids were threatening Keith, and that wasn’t what your child was doing, was it Karen?_

After that, no one bothered Red anymore and Keith wasn’t bullied anymore.

Sure, Keith still was the least popular guy but he could care less about that kind of stuff. As long as he and his friends were happy, that was all that mattered.

Thus, Red Shirogane attended high school with her master and life was good.

“Oh my god, it’s so  _hot!”_  Lance moaned tiredly. He tried fanning himself again with the hat he  _was_  wearing. Beside him, Pidge barely moved from where they were laying face first in the grass on top of several ice packs. Hunk whimpered pitifully as he tried to curl into the shade even deeper. Keith moaned beside Lance tossing a glare at him.

“Is it? I hadn’t noticed.” Keith snapped as he fanned himself with his own hat.

The group of friends were outside of the gym, attending Keith and Lance’s dance practice. Normally Lance was all for practicing his routines and ballet moves, and even Keith was more excited to be dancing, but today the heat had been atrocious. Several other dancers had skipped practice today when they realized the coach would be in a meeting all day. Lance had almost wished he and Keith had skipped, but then again there was a reason that Keith and Lance were the unofficial “captains” of the team. It was because of their hard work and dedication.

“Shut it Mullet-head, or I’ll fight you.” Lance glared at Keith. He could feel literal sweat dripping down his back and into his shorts. _It was disgusting._

“I’ll have to post-pone you on that. Can’t move.” Keith grumbled and flopped back onto the ground. He briefly grinned when Red raised her head up off the ground, to sniff his face and give it a lick. Carefully, Keith scratched under Red’s chin.

Red was underneath the bleachers, thankfully in the shade with a bowl of water next to her. Keith was continuously filling the bowl up with water whenever it got low.

“Aw, why do you get doggy kisses?” Hunk pouted sadly when Red finished licking Keith’s face. He was the next closest to Red, besides Keith, and he had yet to receive any loving kisses from the adorable dog named Red.

“Sorry bro, she likes me the best.” Keith shrugged, feeling as if he was melting out of his skin. He was actually starting to feel light headed. Plus his head was starting to hurt.  _Damn  heat._  Keith poured some more water into Red’s bowl and Red lapped it up happily. Then she gently nosed Keith’s cheek, causing the boy to giggle softly. However, it was way too hot to fully enjoy Keith’s kisses.

“True, true.” Hunk sighed sadly and Pidge raised a hand above their head to give Hunk a thumbs up. Lance gently prodded their back with a stick when they didn’t move.

“How long can a Pidge stay in the sun before they shrivel up?” He asked when Pidge merely hissed into the ground.

“I’m not sure. This is the longest I’ve seen a Pidge out in sunlight before.” Hunk shrugged and Keith nodded in agreement. He shuffled away when Red nosed his cheek again. His headache was starting to get worse. Also, was the room spinning?

“Fuck. You.” Pidge mumbled.

“It lives!” Lance and Hunk cheered. Red raised her head, tail wagging behind her and then she barked happily in agreement. She lapped up some more water causing Keith to blink when his vision swam.  _Man it was hot._

“Is Shiro here yet?” Lance moaned again while Keith tried to focus on the tree above them.

“He’ll be here in like half an hour?” Keith murmured. He tried to look down at the watch on his arm, only to be alarmed when he noticed the numbers were all blurred. He blinked rapidly, before he felt Red grabbing his wrist and then his hand was wet.

“Red? Ew, that’s your bowl.” Keith mumbled when he realized that Red was shoving his hand into her water bowl. He gently tugged his wrist away and out of Red’s mouth, ignoring her huff. His head hurt even worse.

“Ugh,” Lance flopped back onto the ground and poured his own water bottle all over his face.

“You said it.” Hunk replied tiredly.

The group sat comfortably for a little while longer in silence. That is until Lance broke it to complain once more.

“Ugh, when is Shiro coming?!”

Keith blinked silently when black spots filled his vision and his head was pounding harder than before. He swallowed thickly and felt Red nudge his hand again.

“Dad’s coming?” Keith asked confused for a moment.

“Uh, yeah. You told us.” Lance sat up quickly with a frown. He glanced over at Hunk and saw the same frown on Hunk’s face, and even Pidge was starting to sit up.

“I did?” Keith licked his dry lips, barely moving his head to look at the others. Pidge, Hunk and Lance all shared another look over Keith’s head. This time they were each feeling more anxious than before.

“Keith, are you feeling alright?” Pidge asked quietly, getting up from their spot in the grass. They moved themselves so that they were right in front of Keith. Red had immediately gotten up from her spot to stand next to Keith, pushing her nose against Keith’s cheek.

“Pidge? When did you get here?” Keith practically slurred.

Pidge’s eyes widened and they looked over at Lance and Hunk, terrified. Quickly, the other two were right beside Pidge and Red was pushing her entire body up against Keith. Looking at Keith clearly, Pidge could see that Keith was pale. Much,  _much_ paler than normal. His eyes were hazy and unfocused and he was starting to shake. _Bad._

“Lance? Hunk?” Keith’s words were slurring even worse than before, raising alarm in the three friends. Red whined before pawing at Keith’s hand. Keith barely noticed her.

“Keith, man, are you alright? Do you need the shade?” Lance asked nervously when Keith blinked in response. He waited anxiously as Keith said nothing else, silently debating if they needed to call Shiro right away.

“Gonna faint.” Keith finally mumbled. Lance, Hunk and Pidge only had a second before Keith’s eyes rolled back in his head and he was slumping backwards. Red barked loudly several times but she had luckily placed herself under her master in an effort to gently ease him to the ground. Otherwise Keith would have just dropped.

“Oh god, oh god! Keith?! Keith!?” Lance shrieked, jumping up from where he was sitting. Beside him, Pidge wasn’t faring any better and they were grabbing at their hair and pacing back and forth. Immediately, Hunk started fanning Keith with his hands after Red had set Keith’s head on the ground.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Lance scrambled off the ground and couldn’t decide between grabbing Keith or grabbing his bag. All the while, Keith didn’t so much as move an inch. He was truly unconscious and it was unnerving. “What if he fried his brain?! What do we do?”

“I don’t know! I’m not a doctor!” Pidge shouted back, tapping their neck furiously. Now more than ever, they wished they had paid attention to Matt’s explanations when he was helping her.

Silently, Red was digging inside Keith’s bag while no one noticed. She pulled out his jacket and old clothes. With the clothes in her mouth, she trotted over to Keith’s legs and dropped the pile into a large lump beside Keith. Then ever so carefully, she began to shove the clothes under Keith’s legs with her shout.

She struggled for a while under his limp form before Hunk noticed what she was doing and he gasped.

Quickly, he picked up Keith’s legs as gently as he could and raised them above the pile of clothes, along with a backpack that Hunk snatched up. _Keep the legs elevated._  Red barked in response, to which Hunk took as a thanks before she was trotting back to her water bowl and Keith’s water bottle. Hunk watched in awe as Red delicately grabbed the bowl in her jaw, holding it upright so very little water spilt. Then she was near Keith’s head and beginning to pour the water along his scalp and forehead.

Hunk followed Red’s lead and took the water bottle in his hands before pouring water along Keith’s hands, neck and feet (after removing his shoes).

“Lance, get me a towel or cloth and wet it with cold water.” Hunk replied, eyes trained on Red and Keith. Once Red had finished pouring the water along Keith’s head, she dropped the bowl and scavenged for more water.

Thankfully, Lance didn’t argue and instead did exactly as Hunk had asked as quick as possible.

“Put that on Keith’s forehead. Cool it down when it starts to get too hot.” Hunk said, accepting another water bottle from Red when she stood next to him.  _The body needs to cool down slowly. Don’t use ice water._  Red barked in agreement, causing Hunk’s lips to twitch upwards.

“Good girl,” Hunk replied and gave Red a pat on the head. “Keith will be fine.” Red continued to nose at Keith’s head every few minutes, but Keith never once woke up during the whole ordeal. However, Hunk could see that Keith’s chest was rising and falling at a fairly normal pace. _His breathing isn’t shallow yet._

“Pidge, I need you to call 911 and then Shiro. I think Keith is suffering from dehydration and heat stroke. He probably needs an IV.” Hunk said over his shoulder. Pidge was nervously wringing their hands together behind Hunk and Lance, feeling useless. Nodding vigorously, Pidge raced to their backpack and grabbed their cellphone.

Hunk heard them talking to an operator in the background and he focused all of his attention on Keith at hand. Red was maneuvering herself so that her body was underneath Keith’s hand, while simultaneously staring at Hunk as if saying, “You are a good human. Now fix my human.” and honestly, Hunk was a little unnerved.

“How’s his head feel?” Hunk asked softly as he poured some more water along Keith’s neck. In the midst of reapplying a new, cool cloth, Lance felt Keith’s forehead.

“Still way too warm but it’s not as bad as before.” Lance said just as the three of them could hear the sounds of sirens. Immediately Red was barking loudly from her position beside Keith. The entire time, Hunk figured that Keith would awaken due to all of the commotion and noise (especially as the ambulance was right next to them), but Keith never once stirred. The rise and fall of Keith’s chest kept Hunk from panicking  _too_  much. _He’ll be okay._

Thankfully the paramedics were quick to take over, and giving Hunk and the others a rest. Red stayed guard vigilante beside Keith as the paramedics checked him over and set him onto a gurney. When they were loading Keith onto the ambulance, Red jumped into the ambulance under the gurney with Keith. One paramedic jumped in shock while the other tried to get Red out.

“We can’t have a dog in here! There’s no room!” A paramedic cried when Red growled and refused to leave the ambulance.

“She’s his service dog! She’s been with him for ten years!” Hunk tried to explain. One of the paramedic’s eyes widened in realization while the other continued to try and get Red out. However, Red wasn’t about to budge for  _anything._  Not when her master was hurt.

“Come on! Out!”

“Please just let her go with you! I can ride with you and I’ll take her once you’re at the hospital.” Hunk pleaded quickly while Lance and Pidge argued in the background. “She’s his service dog and she stays by his side to make sure he’s okay. She can alert you if something is happening to him before you even know! She knows Keith best! Please!”

The one paramedic who had paused earlier looked at Hunk and then back at the protective Red. Finally, she turned to her partner.

“Let them ride, Hank.”

“Rosalynn!”

“She’s not doing any harm and she’s staying out of the way. If this really is the kid’s service dog she might come in handy. There’s no harm in letting them ride.” The woman said softly. The other paramedic bit his lip before sighing heavily and waving Hunk on.

“Fine. Only because she’s cute and he needs an IV! Let’s move!”

With that, Hunk was climbing into an ambulance and clutching Keith’s hand desperately. _Please be okay._

x.V.x

“Red really is like a guardian angel.” Hunk whispered.

It was eighteen hours after Keith had collapsed and he finally felt like he wasn’t going to pass out from fear and anxiety. Keith was finally getting back to his old self and rehydrated. After about six hours on an IV, Keith had woken up. He’d woken up to Shiro, Hunk  _and_  Lance crying while Pidge and Kuro were the Disappointed Adults. Of course Shiro had scolded Keith about the importance of staying cool and drinking  _lots_ of water, before blubbering about how he was glad that his baby was okay.

Keith was more than a little mortified and when he looked to Red and Hunk for help, he received  _two_  glares.

Luckily Keith only improved as the day went on and if everything went well, he was set to go home tonight.

Shiro smiled softly, looking away from Keith who was sound asleep with Red snuggled up next to his head.

“Yeah. She always has been.”

“If it wasn’t for her, we probably all would have panicked by now.” Hunk admitted, cheeks red from embarrassment.

“Between you and me, Red’s stopped me from several meltdowns too.”

Hunk faked a gasp. “You? But you’re  _the dad._  The insane dad man.”

“Shut it,” Shiro grinned crookedly. He leaned over and ran his fingers through Keith’s hair, causing Keith to mumble in his sleep and lean into Shiro’s touch. Hunk snickered at the sight, with his phone out and snapping away.

“She’s been amazing and every time I think she can’t do anything better she does something like this and I’m so proud.” Shiro replied, still grinning and Hunk nodded.

“Yeah, she is amazing.” Hunk said. The two sat comfortably in a quiet hum before Shiro turned to Keith with a grin.

“Text me those pictures?”

“Oh, you know it.”


End file.
